‘112124, 7:35 PM Basics of Computer Networking - GacksforGeoks TutorialsDSAData ScienceWeb TechCourses Basics of Computer Networking Last Updated : 17 May, 2023 Computer Networking is the practice of connecting computers together to enable communication and data exchange between them. In general, Computer Network is a collection of two or more computers. It helps users to communicate more easily. In this article, we are going to discuss the basics which everyone must know before going deep into Computer Networking Computer Networking How Does a Computer Network Work? Basics building blocks of a Computer network are Nodes and Links. A Network Node can be illustrated as Equipment for Data Communication like a Modem, We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our. & hitpscIww.gecksforgeeks.orpibasies-computer-networking! we511224, 735 PM. Basics of Computer Networking - Ge sforGeoks more. Link in Computer Networks can be defined as wires or cables or free space of wireless networks. The working of Computer Networks can be simply defined as rules or protocols which help in sending and receiving data via the links which allow Computer networks to communicate. Each device has an IP Address, that helps in identifying a device. Basic Terminologies of Computer Networks * Network: A network is a collection of computers and devices that are connected together to enable communication and data exchange. + Nodes: Nodes are devices that are connected to a network. These can include computers, Servers, Printers, Routers, Switches, and other devices. * Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules and standards that govern how data is transmitted over a network. Examples of protocols include TCP/IP, HTTP, and ETP. * Topology: Network topology refers to the physical and logical arrangement of nodes on a network. The common network topologies include bus, star, ring, mesh, and tree. * Service Provider Networks: These types of Networks give permission to take Network Capacity and Functionality on lease from the Provider. Service Provider Networks include Wireless Communications, Data Carriers, etc. * IP Address: An IP address is a unique numerical identifier that is assigned to every device on a network. IP addresses are used to identify devices and enable communication between them. * DNS: The Domain Name System (DNS) is a protocol that is used to translate human-readable domain names (such as www.google.com) into IP addresses that computers can understand. * Firewalt: A firewall is a security device that is used to monitor and control incoming and outgoing network traffic. Firewalls are used to protect networks from unauthorized access and other security threats. Types of Enterprise Computer Networks * LAN: A Local Area Network (LAN) is a network that covers a small area, We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy hntps:tww.geekstorgeeks.orgibasics-computer- networking! ane‘71224, 725 PM Basics of Computer Networking -G * WAN: A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a network that covers a large geographic area, such as a city, country, or even the entire world. WANs are sforGeoks used to connect LANs together and are typically used for long-distance communication. * Cloud Networks: Cloud Networks can be visualized with a Wide Area Network (WAN) as they can be hosted on public or private cloud service providers and cloud networks are available if there is a demand. Cloud Networks consist of Virtual Routers, Firewalls, etc. These are just a few basic concepts of computer networking. Networking is a vast and complex field, and there are many more concepts and technologies involved in building and maintaining networks. Now we are going to discuss some more concepts on Computer Networking * Open system: A system that is connected to the network and is ready for communication. * Closed system: A system that is not connected to the network and can't be communicated with. Types of Computer Network Architecture Computer Network falls under these broad Categories: * Client-Server Architecture: Client-Server Architecture is a type of Computer Network Architecture in which Nodes can be Servers or Clients. We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy hntps:tww.geekstorgeeks.orgibasics-computer- networking! ain294,735 PM Basis of Computer Neborkng- GeekslarGeeks + Peer-to-Peer Architecture: In P2P (Peer-to-Peer) Architecture, there is not any concept of a Central Server. Each device is free for working as either client or server. Network Devices An interconnection of multiple devices, also known as hosts, that are connected using multiple paths for the purpose of sending/receiving data or media. Computer networks can also include multiple devices/mediums which help in the communication between two different devices; these are known as Network devices and include things such as routers, switches, hubs, and bridges. Router Bridge Wireless switch __—- Wireless Router Bridge Network Devices Network Topology The Network Topology is the layout arrangement of the different devices in a network. Common examples include Bus, Star, Mesh, Ring, and Daisy chain. x A —_— Hybrid Point-to-Point i We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy Daisy Chain hntps:tww.geekstorgeeks.orgibasics-computer- networking! aia511224, 735 PM. Basics of Computer Networking - Ge Network Topology OSI Model OSI stands for Open Systems Interconnection. It is a reference model that specifies standards for communications protocols and also the functionalities of each layer. The OSI has been developed by the International Organization For Standardization and it is 7 layer architecture. Each layer of OSI has different functions and each layer has to follow different protocols. The 7 layers are as. follows: * Physical Layer © Data link Layer * Network Layer ¢ Transport Layer * Session Layer * Presentation Layer * Application Layer Protocol A protocol is a set of rules or algorithms which define the way how two entities can communicate across the network and there exists a different protocol defined at each layer of the OSI model. A few such protocols are TCP, IP, UDP, ARP, DHCP, FTP, and so on. Unique Identifiers of Network Hostname: Each device in the network is associated with a unique device name known as Hostname. Type “hostname” in the command prompt(Administrator Mode) and press ‘Enter’, this displays the hostname of your machine. We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy hntps:tww.geekstorgeeks.orgibasics-computer- networking! site‘112124, 7:35 PM Basics of Computer Networking - GacksforGeoks He IP Address (Internet Protocol address): Also known as the Logical Address, the IP Address is the network address of the system across the network. To identify each device in the world-wide-web, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) assigns an IPV4 (Version 4) address as a unique identifier to each device on the Internet. The length of an IPv4 address is 32 bits, hence, we have 232 IP addresses available. The length of an IPv6 address is 128 bits. Type “ipconfig” in the command prompt and press ‘Enter’, this gives us the IP address of the device. MAC Address (Media Access Control address): Also known as physical address, the MAC Address is the unique identifier of each host and is associated with its NIC (Network Interface Card). A MAC address is assigned to the NIC at the time of manufacturing. The length of the MAC address is: 12- nibble/ 6 bytes/ 48 bits Type “ipconfig/all” in the command prompt and press ‘Enter’, this gives us the MAC address Port: A port can be referred to as a logical channel through which data can be sent/received to an application. Any host may have multiple applications running, and each of these applications is identified using the port number on which they are running A port number is a 16-bit integer, hence, we have 2'¢ ports available which are categorized as shown below: We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy hitpsIww.geeksforgeoks.org/basics-computer-networking! a2sy12124, 7:35 PM Basis of Computer Networking - GacksforGecks. Port Types Range Well known Ports 0- 1023 Registered Ports 1024~ 49151 Ephemeral Ports 49152 - 65535 Number of ports: 65,536 Range: 0 - 65535 Type “netstat -a” in the command prompt and press ‘Enter’, this lists all the ports being used os ‘Administrator: Command Prompt List of Ports Socket: The unique combination of IP address and Port number together is termed a Socket. Other Related Concepts DNS Server: DNS stands for Domain Name System. DNS is basically a server that translates web addresses or URLs (ex: www.google.com) into their corresponding IP addresses. We don't have to remember all the IP addresses of each and every website. The command ‘nslookup’ gives you the IP address of the domain vau are lankina for. This also nravides information an aur ONS We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie P icy & Privacy Policy hitpsIww.geeksforgeoks.org/basics-computer-networking! me5112124, 735 PM Basies of Computer Networking - GeeksforGeoks a Administrator: Command Prompt ory CEE EY Foor main IP Address ARP: ARP stands for Address Resolution Protocol. It is used to convert an IP address to its corresponding physical address(i.e., MAC Address). ARP is used by the Data Link Layer to identify the MAC address of the Receiver's machine RARP: RARP stands for Reverse Address Resolution Protocol. As the name suggests, it provides the IP address of the device given a physical address as input. But RARP has become obsolete since the time DHCP has come into the picture. "GeeksforGeeks helped me ace the GATE exam! Whenever | had any doubt regarding any topic, GFG always helped me and made my concepts quiet clear." - Anshika Modi | AIR 21 Choose GeeksforGeeks as your perfect GATE 2025 Preparation partner with these newly launched programs GATE CS & IT Aptitude Engineering Mathematics Discrete Mathematics Operating System DBMS Computer Networks D GALE Oftune (Dethi/NCR), Over 125,000+ students already trust us to be their GATE Exam guide. Join We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy hitpsIww.geeksforgeoks.org/basics-computer-networking! ana511224, 735 PM. 1.28 Share your thoughts in the comments Similar Reads ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of Computer Networking TCP/IP in Computer Networking Difference Between BOOTP and RARP in Computer Networking How to Perform Bit Stuffing in Computer Networking? Basics of Computer and its Operations eo GeeksforGeeks Article Tags: Computer Networks, Misc Practice Tags: Misc Basics of Computer Networking - GacksforGeeks. Suggest improvement Next Types of Network Topology MAN Full Form in Computer Networking Importance of Computer Networking Difference Between MSS and MTU in Computer Networking OSI Model Full Form in Computer Networking Introduction to basic Networking Terminology We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy hittps:twww-geokstorgeoks orgbasies-computer- networking! ona511224, 735 PM. Basics of Computer Networking OG GeeksforGeeks eksforGeeks Acs, 3th Floor Soveregn Corporate Tower, Sector-136, Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201305 Company Explore About Us Hack-aThons Legal Gf Weekly Contest Careers DSAin JAVAyCs+ In Mela Master System Design Contact Us Master cP ‘Advertise with us GFG Corpora Placement Training Program Solution GeeksforGeeks Videos Geeks Community Languages DSA Python Data Structures Java Algorithms cH DSA for Beginners PHP Basic DSAProblems Golang DSARoadmap 5 Top 100 DSA Interview Problems R Language DSA Roadmap by Sandeep Jain Android Tutorial Tutorials Archive Data Science & ML All Cheat Sheets HTML &CSS We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy hittps:twww-geokstorgeoks orgbasies-computer- networking! r0112511224, 735 PM. Machine Learning Tutorial, ML Maths Data Visualisation Tutorial Pandas Tutorial NumPy Tutorial NLP Tutorial Deep Learning Tutorial Python Tutorial Python Programming Examples Python Projects Python Tkinter Web Seraping OpencV Tutorial Python interview Question DevOps Devops Roadmap System Design High Level Design Low Level Design UML Diagrams Interview Guide Design Patterns o0AD ‘System Design Bootcamp Interview Questions Preparation Corner CCompany-Wise Recruitment Process Resume Templates Aptitude Preparation Puzzles Company-Wise Preparation Management & Finance Basics of Computer Networking - Ge sforGecks Web Templates SS Frameworks Bootstrap Tallwind CSS SASS Less Web Design Django Tutoriat Computer Science Operating Systems Computer Network Database Management System Software Engineering Digital Logic Design Engineering Maths Competitive Programming Top 0S or Algo for CP Top $0 Tree op 50 Graph Top 50 Array ‘op 50 String ‘Top 50 0P “Top 15 Websites for CP JavaScript JavaScript Examples ‘Typescript Reacts Nexus Angulas Nodeus: Lodash Web Browser School Subjects Mathematics Physics Chemistry Biology Social Science English Grammar World 6k Free Online Tools We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy hntps:tww.geekstorgeeks.orgibasics-computer- networking! ne511224, 735 PM. Income Tax Organisational Behaviour Marketing More Tutorials Software Development Sofware Testing. Product Management SAP ‘SEO - Search Engine Optimization Linux Excel @GeeksforGeeks, Sanchh: Basics of Computer Networking - GacksforGeeks. Code Converters Currency Converter Random Number Generator Random Password Generator GeeksforGeeks Videos sa. Python Java ce Data Science CS Subjects a Education Private Limited, All rights reserved We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy hittps:twww-geokstorgeoks orgbasies-computer- networking! rane